Dark Matter
Prologue Hans Novastar and Ranulph Darkhitch sat in an apartment of their own. A modest little suite on Coruscant, it wasn't really theirs, but it had taken Ranulph little effort to hack into a terminal and convince it otherwise. Hans was clean shaven, with green eyes and long blonde hair that had begun to trail down his neck; he had not cut it since before the mission to Felucia. Ranulph, sitting beside him, had much more messy orange-brownish hair, and a goatee to sport in spite of him being the younger of the pair, nineteen years in comparison to Hans' twenty-four. They both stared at the now static feed of Dylan's apartment. There was a long silence between the two, and deep down they prayed inside that it would come back online and Ganner would be alive. That Arron Radion, the only other survivor of Antimatter Squadron, someone who they had trusted, hadn't just delivered the corpse of Ganner Slarwalker to Dylan Antiunknown. Their prayers were not answered. Ganner Slarwalker was dead, Arron Radion had done it, and Dylan Antiunknown had paid him for it. Hans looked over at Ranulph, and spoke. He knew Ranulph was thinking the very words he was going to say, but they had to be uttered nonetheless. "We're going to kill him." Part 1: Blood Brothers 21 BBY Arron found himself in a dark room, the only illumination being the red light on the ceiling. He was "Now, let's see what we have here." The menacing voice came from behind him; it was his target, Arek Saris. He felt a gloved hand touch the back of his head, and the years flew away, leaving just a world of white. It gradually faded, giving way to a bright sky full of stars and nebulae, the most he'd ever seen while on a planet. '' ''"He's out there kid," a grown man's voice said next to him. Arron looked to his right and saw a figure in his probable mid-thirties, forties at most. He had pale skin and dark brown hair, and deep blue eyes- just like Arron. "Right now, Ganner Slarwalker doesn't even know he has a brother. Maybe one day he'll come home and he'll come home and meet Mom and I and you, Cade, and we'll all be happy." Arron had never been called that before, but it felt just... right. Like it had always been his. Then he realized- it had. These were repressed memories. Now the memories skipped ahead. He was out in the grassy fields around midday, picking up little blue ball. A shadow fell over him, and he turned to face it. There stood a tall figure clad in golden armor- Mandalorian armor. "Hello, you," a voice whispered through the helmet. The figure reached out a hand towards him, and as it got closer, the world faded into darkness once more. ... Present day, 19 BBY It was a chilly Coruscant night, and in the opinion of Hans Novastar, befittingly so. The wind rushed through his hair, and nipped at his face and hands. Perched on a rooftop across from Dylan's apartment, he watched the scene before him through the scope of his sniper rifle. His finger was off the trigger, begging to shed blood. Hans wanted nothing more than to satisfy that craving, but his gut told him it was too dangerous. His mind particularly agreed with this instinct- everyone knew that the head of the Brotherhood was no one to be trifled with. In fact, most people even in the Brotherhood never even met him or learned his name. Or, he pondered, Maybe they never lived to tell the tale. Through the scope, he could see Cade, passed out from drinking, and Dylan. Cade was in some brown civilian clothing, while Dylan was again dressed in his blue and purple robes. Dylan was carrying Cade as he approached the door. "Looks like he's heading out," Hans whispered into his comm. "Copy. Don't engage." Ranulph replied. Just one shot... Hans couldn't push the thought from his head, no matter how much he knew what had to be done. Dylan made the trip on foot, and Hans grappled between rooftops to keep watch. Finally, Dylan turned and walked into another apartment building. "You seeing this?" Hans asked. "I see it. Building is just civilians." "Copy. I'll get him." After a few agonizing minutes, Dylan finally walked out, alone. Hans once more put the scope to his head. It would be so easy... Once again, he resisted the urge as he watched the crime lord walk away. Surely it was a trick of his mind, but he swore he saw the slightest smile on Dylan's face. ... 21 BBY The highlights of Mandalore did not include its cantinas, Cade decided. There were only a few others to be seen, all humans drinking quietly from their cups. Cade briefly wondered what had brought them there, but the entrance of his contact quickly stole his attention. He was a Devoronian, dressed in a tall black coat. His eyes shifted quickly across the bar as he made his way over to Cade. Word in... well, everywhere, is that you're dead, 'ya know," The man muttered as he sat down. '' ''"Keep it that way, Garrick." Cade replied. As the man sat down, Cade poured some purple Corellian ale into a cup and offered it to Garrick. He accepted. "This drink might be cheap, but my time ain't." Garrick started, taking a sip. "What is it you want, Arron?" "I'm looking for the owner of a custom-made set of armor." "You never struck me as the type. What kind of armor we talkin' about here?" 'Is it enough? Cade wondered. He'd poured a serum into the drinks to lull him,, but Garrick had barely drank any of it. "Mandalorian." "Mandalorian? What did you get into?" "Believe me, you do not wanna know." Or, more precisely, Cade didn't want him to know. "Lemme guess, this about revenge?" "Pretty much." "Ah, nothing like a little payback." Now was his chance. Cade raised his cup. "To payback?" Garrick followed suit, their cups clinking together. "To payback." They both drank. "Now, the thing about this armor is, it's made of gold. Ever hear of anything like that?" "I..nothing I could tell you." "Who'd it belong to?" Cade felt the tension rising in his voice, and tried to cool himself down. "Blast it..... It belonged to the boss." The boss. Anyone who was part of the Brotherhood knew that name. Few knew his true identity, but everyone knew one thing: No one in the whole galaxy was more powerful than the boss. '' ''"What'd he use it for?" "Gee, I don't know! Why not just ask him yourself?" This wasn't going to get any further. "Good idea. His name?" Garrick leaned in, eyeing everyone else suspiciously. "Listen, you have to ''promise that you will tell no one it."'' "Promise." Cade didn't mean it, but he barely even remembered a world where promises could be trusted anymore. Garrick's voice became almost impossible to hear as he uttered the words that would seal the fate of millions. "His name is Dylan Antiunknown." Present day, 19 BBY Click. A blindingly white light suddenly pierced into Cade's eyes, and he found himself squinting for several seconds as they slowly adapted to reveal his surroundings. As this happened, a silhouette walked in front of him, and raised a weapon towards him. As his vision returned, he made it out to be Hans, holding a DC-17. Cade tried to move and found ropes tied to his hands and legs. "Long time, no see," he started, his voice incredibly hostile. Cade tried to speak, but quickly learned his mouth had been taped shut. "Don't even bother, least not 'till I ask you something. How's Ganner doing?" As Cade now began to understand the gravity of the situation, a single bead of sweat began trickling its way down his forehead. Hans lowered his weapon, and spun Cade and his chair around to face Ranulph, holding a syringe. Behind him was a table with a small computer on it, displaying a security camera feed of Cade's apartment "You see, after we found out you were still in town, Ranulph and I did some digging. See that syringe he's got there? Some heavy truth serum. Stuff they found in Garrick Clyine outside that cantina you met him in after you left us." Cade struggled against the ropes as his eyes searched the bland apartment for anything that could help him, but both actions were to no avail. Out of the corner of his eye, something flew by in an instant- a shadow. Hans ripped off the tape as Ranulph approached him. Hans pulled up Cade's right sleeve, exposing the vein in his arm. "Let's see just how good it is." From above, a series of rapid, high-pitched beeps grew from inaudible to an ear-piercing screech in a matter of seconds. Hans yelled something inaudible over the noise as he and Ranulph both ran back. Ranulph pushed over the table, and the two quickly ducked behind it, as the wall caved in to an explosion. Cade's chair was knocked by the blast, and he hit the wall, painfully landing on his side. A loud ringing in his ears blocked out any subsequent noises, but Cade watched as a figure dropped into the room amongst the smoke. The figure turned and threw a small knife at the ropes that bound Cade's hands. It cut through, and Cade quickly used the knife to slice through the ones on his legs. He stood up as the figure was struck by a shot through the smoke. Cade ran to the figure- a purple-skinned Rodian in heavy armor, he'd taken a shot to his right eye- and quickly grabbed his pistol, returning shots as the dust slowly began to settle. The Rodian stood up, grabbed Cade, and extended his left arm towards the sky. As a green speeder flew over, a cable shot out and latched on to it, quickly dragging Cade and the Rodian into the sky behind it. The speeder approached the roof of the nearest building and slowly landed on it. As they touched down, the Rodian said something to Cade, who simply responded by pointing to his ears and saying "Can't hear." The Rodian nodded knowingly. Finally, the speeder was on-level with them, and Dylan stepped out, saying something to the Rodian that was also inaudible. Finally, his hearing slowly returned. "... get you to a medic, and get this guy safe offworld. You've done very well, Praxon." Dylan gestured for Cade to get in, and he did, along with Praxon. They zoomed off into the Coruscant sky. ... 2 Days Later Cade was well acquainted with Nar Shadda, with its casinos and bars and gangs fighting for control of the next block. As he flew in closer to the surface, many memories of his time before Antimatter Squadron returned to him, the times he'd spent fighting for Brotherhood turf and winning. The Brotherhood had since moved out of Nar Shadda as their orbital station had been created, but as Cade walked down the streets alongside Dylan, he felt just as much power as he had in the years past. They entered a dark club, illuminated by the flashes of blue and purple that sometimes skimmed the room which was populated by the many random denizens of Nar Shadda, mostly aliens. They walked up to the bartender, a red Twi'lek female. "My associate and I here will take a Vanice special." Dylan said. The bartender smiled and nodded knowingly, and stepped out of the way of Dylan, who walked past her into a back room, and Cade, who followed. "Now, regardless of what your first instinct says, don't shoot this guy," Dylan muttered. Cade nodded, and Dylan smiled ever so slightly. They walked into the back room, illuminated by a bright blue light overhead. In the room were two figures. Facing them was a woman, red-haired, with two scars running across her face, forming a cross just under her right eye. To Cade, she seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it- at least not until the second figure turned around. As their eyes met, the strands of time seemed to unfold, giving way... There was a fire in his brown eyes as he finally turned to face the group. His brown hair was combed neatly to the right, the same color as the long moustache that stretched across his worn face. Behind him was the woman, her face untouched. They stood in the gray-lined bridge of what Arron presumed was a Venator, somewhere in space. "Well, well, well..." he started. "You've got quite the record, Arron. Sabotage, espionage, murder of course, and vandalism." "What can I say?" He responded. "I'm good at what I do." "That's why you're here." Now Arron was interested. "What do you want with me?" "My name is Taran Ragnan. I find people with unique abilities to do the missions the Republic, publicly, cannot." The door slid open behind Aron, giving way to a group of individuals. Four other people in orange prison clothing, the same as him. "Welcome to Antimatter Squadron." "Easy, easy!" Dylan's hushed voice snapped Cade back to the present. The world came back into focus, and Cade found himself gripping his pistol. Cyana, the woman, also had her hand ready on the blaster at her side. "Believe me, I wanna shoot this guy too, but he's all we got." Cade found it within himself to let go of the gun, and watch the negotiations as Dylan redirected his attention to Ragnan. "Taran! Long time, no see. You an admiral yet, buddy? CYANA! My, my, what happened here?" "You know what happened. What do you want?" Cyana's reply was quick and cold. "Getting here was no small task, Dylan." Taran added on. "As you know," Dylan started, "The Nebula Corporation has been making some moves as of late that are, to say the least, troubling. Our last solution to that went rogue, no thanks to you." "Oh? And your new solution?" Taran wasn't having it. Dylan smiled. "We're gonna do it again." Cyana nervously eyed Cade. "You're kidding, right?" "Don't worry," Dylan assured her. "This time I'll be watching to make sure no one messes up." The room reached a moment of silence as Dylan's words sank in, and Cade began trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle the conversation had presented him with. Was Dylan behind Antimatter Squadron? Suddenly, Dylan put his hands together and began making his way out. "Well, I think that concludes our business. I'll get you the resources you'll need. Later, Taran." Dylan walked out, beckoning for Cade to follow. As he walked out, Taran spoke. "See you around, Cade." Cade? As Cade, full of surprise, turned to face Taran once more, the door closed in front of him. "Come!" Dylan yelled, enthusiastic as ever. ... Brotherhood HQ As the screen turned black, Asura caught herself watching her own reflection, observing herself on the threshold of triumph. At 20 years old, the Zabrak saw the confidence and the life within her deep brown eyes, and her mind was permeated by one thought: "I've got a good feeling about this." The screen flashed back on. Now was the moment of truth. The insignia of the Brotherhood rested in the bottom left corner, as if to remind Asura it was always watching. Most outsiders found the insignia, an red imprint of a right hand, simple yet intimidating, but Asura had no reason to fear it. She was one of them. Suddenly, words in Aurebesh suddenly appeared on the screen in large black letters. PARADUS ACCESS GRANTED. WELCOME, DYLAN. Despite the red light on the access panel assuring her of her safety, Asura triple-checked the look on her room. Perhaps the situation had made her paranoid, but she wanted to be absolutely certain that no one would walk in on what was about to happen. As one of the Brotherhood's top hackers, she was perceived as both a great asset and a great liability, and for good reason. Sitting in front of her was the entire Brotherhood network, right at her fingertips. Naturally, Asura found the most classified file she could and opened it. PRIORITY TARGET: CADE SLARWALKER SPECIES: HUMAN HOMEWORLD: DANTOOINE STATUS: IN CUSTODY *Surveillance feed *Documentation Edit File She pressed Surveillance feed. As promised, she was met with a live feed of what she presumed to be his room on the station. His room was dark, and the only visible thing was a solid red dot. After a moment, the feed automatically began to turn green as night vision activated, and the audio finally began to kick in. Cade was facing towards the light, just a little bit to the left as he spoke. "-care if you believe me, you have to help. Ragnan and Dylan, they're connected somehow, and they're planning something. I'm locked up on the space station, no clue where. You need to get me out. Cade out." Now fully curious, Asura tracked the outgoing message to its destination- Nar Shadda. The boss--Dylan, as she now knew-- had just been there. Looking further into the matter, Asura found a report on the meeting. Dylan sure took a lot of notes. The report read: Met with Ragnan to discuss reinitiation of Operation Supernova. He didn't like it, but he has no choice anyways. I set up a promotion for him as compensation. He used Cade's name. I don't know how he got that information, but I suspect it may have been Cyana's fault. Cade will have to be more closely monitored from now on. In the meantime, I think I may have found the final candidate for Operation Supernova. There was a knock on Asura's door. She looked up, her heart stopping as her paranoia again began to set in. She took a moment to slow down, and calm herself. Now was not the time for irrational behavior. "Coming!" She yelled. She quickly turned off the computer, and opened the door. She opened the door to find nothing, until she looked down into the innocent blue face of an Ortolan. "Asura, no?" "That's me," she replied, her voice cracking ever so slightly from fear. "Gatt told me to get you. Hangar 6's airlock is having some problems." "Alright," she said. Now that she could handle. Asura gathered her necessary equipment and stepped out. As the door closed behind her, she put her finger on the light and it turned red, indicating she had locked it. Asura couldn't help but let out a sigh of both relief and exasperation. Just another day on the job. However, one question nagged at her--what was Operation Supernova? ... Cloaked, but just inside scanner range, Hans and Ranulph waited. The Brotherhood HQ space station was just ahead of them, and Ranulph was monitoring their communications. They had figured that Dylan's departure would be unannounced to maintain his secrecy and were waiting for him to leave. "You know, I'd really rather just blow this thing up and be done with it," Hans remarked. Inwardly, Ranulph agreed, but that would have to come another time. First, he needed schematics of the station. Then, a manifest... "Ranulph, you see that?" He snapped out of reality, looking at the nearest hangar of the station, Hangar 6. There was a sleek black vessel, dagger-shaped, exiting from it. Ranulph quickly checked all the channels, and sure enough, there was no mention of a launch. "It's him," Ranulph replied. He quickly began tracking the course of the ship, and Hans manned the controls. "Let's finish this." ... Even though he was on a long-term mission to find out what Dylan had done to him as a child, take down his crime syndicate, and ultimately kill him, Cade had to admit he rather liked the Runner's Fortune. He'd never been in a ship so smooth, and as they jumped into hyperspace, Cade barely felt a difference. Cade sat in the co-pilot's seat of the ship, staring out the window as the starts blurred past him. "Fortunately for you, this next deal should be pretty easy," Dylan informed Cade. "I've known this guy for ages, and we've made some pretty good arrangements over the years. I wouldn't even bring you, but it's a personal philosophy of mine to always keep my guard up. That's how I got this far." "Who's the guy?" Cade inquired. "Goes by the name of Lospeg. He was one of my main men in the CIS during the war. Guns, ships, computers, intel, you name it. Now that the war's over, he's selling off what he has left to the highest bidder. Today, however, he's got something special for me. You aren't gonna believe it." "C'mon, don't leave me hanging." "Get some rest, Cade. You'll need it for when we get there." Cade wanted to argue further, but he figured there was no good to come from pushing it. Besides, he really did need the rest. ... The screen flashed to life in front of Asura once more. PARADUS ACCESS GRANTED. WELCOME, DYLAN. Now she had to know. She typed in the phrase "Operation Supernova", and hit search. The first file that came up was some sort of dossier. First on the list was Praxon, a tough-looking purple Rodian. The file indicated his age, 33, and his "talent": Black ops, especially demolitions. Second on the list was Kev Marnath, human, 26. Asura couldn't help but be charmed by some combination of his dark brown eyes, his tan skin, and his scruffy-but-in-just-the-right-way hair, even in the midst of her investigation. His "talent": Espionage. The next item on the list was especially interesting, because it was a droid. "DX-245." A heavily modified B2 super battle droid, outfitted with a processor that had previously belonged to a droid commando that allowed it to operate autonomously. It also had a jetpack installed on its back, and customized weaponry on both arms. The right arm had a sniper mode, and the left could transform into a rotary blaster cannon or a small rocket launcher. Asura had never seen anything like it. The "talent" it had been chosen for was assassination, but Asura reckoned it could take down an entire army if need be. Properly awed, Asura finally shifted her attention to the last item on the list. The name read Asura Tyuki. 21 years old, female Zabrak. Talent: Master slicer. "What?" She thought to herself. She hadn't done anything to tip anyone off about her activities. Regardless, there she was, in a rather unflattering photo of her fixing a Sullustan's ship's engine, with smoke all over her face. Asura remembered that job--it had taken place when she was just starting out on Hutta as a mechanic for the Brotherhood. How long had they been watching her? Asura figured it was time to learn all there was to know about Operation Supernova. ... Cade trudged through an icy cave beside Dylan. As their breath puffed in front of them, they finally reached an opening leading to a much wider space. What little light there was shined off the ice, giving illumination to the two figures in the room. The first, Lospeg, was an elderly Geonosian. He was facing the droid, which Cade found far more interesting. It resembled an old super battle droid, but painted black and with some obvious weaponry modifications. "Lospeg, my old friend!" Dylan warmly greeted the alien like everyone else Cade had seen him talk to. Lospeg turned to face Dylan, and they walked towards each other to shake hands. "Dylan!" Lospeg replied in a similar manner, surprising Cade. Geonosians weren't known to speak basic, and people weren't known to like Dylan. "Got the money you wanted right here." Dylan pulled out a datapad finalizing the exchange of funds. "Excellent." He replied. "I have the droid." "I gotta say, I love your efficiency. However, today I brought along someone to impress. Mind giving up the specs?" "Very well. This is DX-245, my greatest creation. Top-of-the-line processor allows for extended autonomous operation. He has a jetpack based off of the same design used by Republic troopers, but optimized for his weight." "C'mon, get to the good part." "Ah, yes. The weaponry. A sniper rifle, a rotary blaster cannon, and a small rocket launcher. All within the two arms. This droid alone could slay an army." "So who are we throwing it at?" Cade asked. "Oh, yeah... About that. 'Ya see, Cade, your brother dearest isn't as dead as I had figured. So now, I have to compensate. DX, terminate him." The droid raised its left arm. "Oh, and don't use any guns." The arm was lowered. Cade aimed his blaster at Dylan. "Not so-" DX charged him, using its jetpack to significantly boost its speed as it grabbed him and then threw him to the ground. "Meet me at my ship when he's dead." Dylan ordered. He left, and Lospeg exited in the other direction. Cade grabbed his blaster and fired off rapid shots that bounced off uselessly against DX's armor. "Your weapons have no effect. You prolong your death." The droid's voice droned in a mechanical baritone. Cade kept firing until at last all he heard was the click of the trigger. DX stood just inches in front of him, raising its fist for the killing blow. Cornered, Cade readied himself, but the blow never came. "I don't have time," a worried female voice projected from DX, "Ragnan, Dylan, they have a plan. You need to find Dani Morrow and-" The feed was cut short. DX stopped for a moment, then turned and walked away. Stunned, Cade stood and caught his breath. He needed a plan, and quick. Lospeg couldn't have gone far, maybe- "HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!" Hans yelled. He and Ranulph approached from the same direction Lospeg had exited from; Cade doubted there was any chance of catching him now. Hans quickly approached him with a blaster leveled just between the eyes. "Any last words?" He asked sinisterly. Before Cade could reply, Ranulph stepped between the two to intervene. "Hans, why don't you think before you shoot for once? We need his info." Hans looked at Cade and back to Ranulph a few times, weighing his options, before he finally sighed and lowered his weapon. Ranulph turned, raising his own. "Now, you'd better start talking." Part 2: Operation Supernova Coruscant "Get up." The words rang over and over in Asura's ears as she struggle to awaken. She didn't known when she had gone unconscious or how long she'd been out, but she was still very groggy. Making out what she could of her surroundings, she saw 3 blank silver walls, and a blank silver floor. Quite the cell. On the final wall was an opening, with a blinding light pouring in. As Asura's eyes adjusted, she saw a woman walking closer. Asura recognized her facial scars from the files she'd found- Cyana Bastra. Despite her weariness, Asura struggled to bring back her fighting lessons in the Brotherhood, and threw a wide punch, almost stumbling. Cyana easily dodged the incoming blow and responded by shocking her with an electrical rod, causing Asura to black out again. The world focused into view once more, as Asura was dropped by whoever had been carrying her onto another hard metal floor. Recovering more quickly this time, she looked up to see the busy bridge of a Star Destroyer. Officers walked about, while many men sat in their gray uniforms busy about whatever task it was they had been assigned. One figure stood at the front, facing what looked to be Coruscant through the window. Dressed in a gray uniform, his hands were behind his back as he observed the planet. His pale neck revealed his race--human--and the neatly combed brown hair lining his head confirmed his identity to Asura. It was Taran Ragnan, the man who had led the first Antimatter Squadron, working for Dylan under the guise of Republic activity. "Asura Tyuki," he stated, still facing away, "Joining us at last." His voice was thickly Coruscanti accented and commanding, catching the attention of the officers on the deck for a brief second before they returned to their work. Asura looked behind her to see the other "candidates" behind her, wearing orange prison garb, with the obvious exception of DX-245. "Take a good look at her. This is the woman who your life depends on." As they looked at her, she noticed that Praxon was wearing an eye patch over his right eye. DX-245 also appeared to be wearing a restraining bolt. Kev looked pretty much the same as his picture, though he was clearly more upset. "You gotta be kidding," Kev muttered grimly. His voice was also accented, but more in the style of a farmer from the Mid Rim. Asura had read that his parents lived on Ord Mantell. "You guys kidnap me, lock me up, and now you're telling me this little girlie is gonna save my life? He turned to Cyana. "You could do so much better than this guy." She pulled out the rod and shocked Kev, a slight grin on her face. "Don't worry," she replied, "My husband's got that taken care of." "Are you done?" Taran inquired impatiently. Wordlessly, Cyana returned to Taran's side, and Asura saw that he was now facing them. He had dark brown eyes with a fire in them that belied his years, and a thick brown beard running down and across his face. "Your mission is simple. Tomorrow night, to celebrate their new alliance with the Empire, Dani Morrow of the Nebula Corporation will be hosting a party in the Coruscant underworld. You will lure her away and kill her." "And if we don't?" Praxon intervened. "I'll gladly die before I work for you." "Oh, did I forget to mention?" Cyana responded. "While you were out, you were implanted with some of my experimental tech." Praxon fell to the ground, twisting in agony. "You c-can resist," he gasped, "B-but you'll p-p-pay." As he regained control of himself, he stood up, silent in his shame. "I must say, he resisted better than our human test subjects. The rest of you lot likely won't be able to so much as breathe unless we say so." Taran commented. After a brief pause, Taran motioned for Cyana to take the prisoners away, and the others were grabbed by guards and taken to their cells, leaving Asura. "As for you," Taran said, "You will be providing overwatch for the team. Anything that goes wrong, goes wrong on your behalf." "And what makes you think I won't just take you down myself?" Asura replied. Taran chuckled. "Because if you do, they will all die." ... 24 hours later "Operation Supernova is a go. I repeat, Operation Supernova is ago." Hans and Cade stood in a corner, drinks in their hands. Filling the building were flashing lights, loud noises, and partygoers of all shapes and sizes. Ranulph had patched them into the communications of the Exarch and given them fake IDs to get into the party, the only piece of information he had been able to get from the ship's servers before someone shut him out. It seemed this new Antimatter Squadron had its own hacker to boot, probably the same person who had saved Cade. "You see that?" Hans asked. Cade looked up at the entrance to see a purple-skinned, one-eyed Rodian enter alongside a rather well-polished human. "It's Praxon. Gotta be." Cade responded. "Who's the other chump?" Though he couldn't follow a Rodian's eyes, Cade could definitely tell the man was scanning the crowd, looking for something--or someone. "Initiating life form scan..." "It's gotta be Morrow. A chance to take out a leader of their biggest rivals? They wouldn't miss it." "Two targets identified." Hans and Cade quickly looked at each other. Though neither spoke, their faces reflected the moment of panic experienced at the exact moment one realizes their likely impending demise. Cade gripped his pistol. "Identifying: Dani Morrow and Hans Cerrano." "What?" Cade asked, partly due to Hans' and partly at the absence of his own. "Cade, we've got problems." Hans replied, looking away. Cade followed his eyes back to the suspicious man. He was now looking intently at Hans across the crowd. "Where's the other?" Cade scanned across the room for signs of the Rodian, but he was nowhere to be found. Looking back at the man, Cade saw he had a small blaster pistol drawn. "Down!" he yelled as he grabbed Hans and dropped to the ground. A blaster bolt soared over their heads as the partygoers erupted into panic. Cade grabbed his own blaster, preparing for the fight ahead. ... Under the cover of the distracted crowd, Praxon grabbed her. Dani tried to let out a scream, but he covered her mouth as he exited through the back door. The door lead them into a dark alley, illuminated only by what the ajar door let through as it opened. Praxon made sure to leave it just slightly open so that Dani could see what was about to happen. Looking around, he tried to determine which of the buildings towering over him from afar DX-245 was located on, but couldn't identify it. He let Dani go, and she stumbled forward for a second. As she turned back around, Praxon saw a fire in her dark green eyes as she threw a punch. Praxon responded by catching her fist in his left hand, and raising his weapon in his right, aimed at her chest, with his finger off the trigger. Her eyes widened as she suddenly realized the identity of her captor. "You're his assassin," she whispered. Aboard the Exarch, Asura tracked the movements of each member of Antimatter Squadron. Using a computer to see things from DX-245's vantage point, watched as the droid scanned the building. Inside, a firefight had broken out between Kev, Hans, and an accomplice of Hans'. Asura was almost certain it was Cade, but there was no way to prove it. Outside, Praxon was talking to Dani at gunpoint. Using DX-245's audio receptors, she listened in on the conversation. "Not anymore." Praxon gave her his weapon. "Stop him!" Taran yelled. He activated the nerve controls, and Asura saw Praxon fall to the ground in agony. "P-please," Praxon begged Dani. As she raised the weapon, Asura quickly knew what she had to do and input several fast commands into DX-245. The droid raised his right arm, set to sniper mode, and fired. The shot zoomed through the night, striking Dani in the head just microseconds before she could pull the trigger. Her body dropped to the ground, still clutching the pistol, as her life signs faded from DX's scanners. "No!" Praxon screamed as the nerve controls finally won the struggle for his body. Then, silently, he stood up and started making his way to the extraction point. Inside the building, Kev hid behind an overturned table. Miraculously, it seemed all the civilians had made it out alive, leaving him caught in a shootout with Hans and the other kid. He'd already requested backup only to receive static on his end of the comms. It seemed that his assailants had help. As another shot flew over his head, Kev checked the power cell on his blaster, only to find it empty. "Blast," he muttered. "I surrender!" He yelled. He stood up, raising his hands, and the two attackers quickly subdued him. Pointing a gun at him, Hans started the interrogation. "Talk," he said. "Ragnan--it was all Ragnan! He threatened us... He's on his ship now, it's here, I can--" He suddenly stopped. He tried to open his mouth, but he couldn't. Quickly he realized that he couldn't move his eyes, or his limbs; not even a single breath could be produced of his own will. "What are you doing?!?" Asura asked over the comm, having penetrated whatever barrier had been made. Whoever she was talking to, Kev was in no position to respond, yet words came out of his mouth as he felt his own face make a menacing smile. "My, my, if it isn't the Senator's boy." Hearing these words, Hans slammed Kev's head against the ground, sending waves of numb pain through him. Still, he kept talking. "He really misses you, you know. You would've made an excellent team." Hans put his blaster to Kev's head, right between the eyes. "I'll do it," he said, suddenly eerily calm. "Does little baby Hans miss his moth-" ... Aboard their ship, a custom built freighter made to resemble a XS Freighter from generations ago, Ranulph, Cade, and Hans stood around the body Ranulph had identified as Kev Marnath, previously a Brotherhood spy. "You have some explaining to do," Cade said angrily. Hans sighed and turned away, looking downwards. "I was born Hans Cerrano. My father, Berloc Cerrano, is on the Senate. He represents this weapons corporation, Cenvatech. Some puppet company for the Brotherhood. One night my mother found out the truth of what he was doing, so he killed her. At the time, I was just getting into the Coruscant Security Force, so I started investigating. When I finally figured out who it was, another ally of his betrayed me- Taran Ragnan. Ragnan set me up to take the fall for the whole thing, and before I knew it I was just another criminal. A few mishaps in the Underworld later, I wound up with you guys. Any questions?" Hans turned to face Cade and Ranulph, who were silent. "I thought so." ... Back on the Exarch, Taran and Cyana watched as a group of surgical droids began to surround an unconscious Praxon. Praxon was bound to the table by his arms and legs, and his eye patch removed. "Are you sure this is going to work?" Taran asked. "What if the device fails? What if he gains control over the droid?" "He won't. His will is not strong enough." Cyana signaled the droids and they moved in closer. ... Twenty minutes later, Praxon opened his eyes. His eyes. The view from his left eye revealed little about his situation. He was facing up towards a light, with Cyana and Taran's faces looking down upon him expectantly from the right. From the left was one final surgical droid which had apparently stayed to see the results as well. The view from his right eye, however, was much different. He saw the world through a red filter, and the results did not sync up with the left. He saw the droid, standing over his bed, looking down at him. Praxon look at his own self, seeing that his empty eye socket had been filled by a black eye with a red circle resembling an iris. A 21-B, a voice in his mind stated. "What?" he whispered. He pulled at his restraints, and in doing so discovered he was privy to a full new set of feelings--an entirely different body. He reached out and in his right eye saw a metallic hand reach out over him. At last, some form of understanding of the situation reached Praxon: He could control DX-245. Wrong, the droid stated in his mind, your brain is linked to my core processor. We function as one. Suddenly forming a plan, he turned DX to face Taran and Cyana. He registered Cyana holding a switch with a single button, which she pressed. Electricity ran through DX's chest, and Praxon shared the pain that slowly faded as the restraining bolt stopped. The droid feels pain, he realized. "Neutralize him." Cyana ordered. DX-245 now reversed the control onto Praxon with an impossibly powerful mental torrent, rendering him unable to move, to speak, and through all the pain, Praxon could barely think. "I think it'll work quite nicely," Cyana commented to Taran. ... Back on the ship (which Cade noted had yet to be properly named), Ranulph began to set his plan into motion. On the holoterminal in the center of the ship, a blue hologram of a young Zabrak girl sitting in a small chair popped into existence. Her eyes widened as she began quickly pressing buttons on whatever computer she was operating out of sight. "What the-" "Quiet!" Hans ordered. "We need your help, and you need ours, so let's work something out here. I'm Hans." "Asura," she replied. "Asura, we're going to disable those neural implants. When we do, I need you to do a few things for me..." ... CT-740954, "Thunder", and CT-740955, "Lightning", had finally figured it out. They had been suspicious of the motives of the superiors, having never seen them, found any proof of their existence, or being given any order other than to stay on the ship. Finally, after slicing their way into the security feed, they had seen all the proof they needed. Admiral Taran Ragnan, plotting to kill a Nebula Corporation executive? It was high treason, and if the rest of the crew was in on it, then they were also traitors. Now, having gotten their armor and weapons from the armory, the two war-hardened soldiers made their way through the ship, intending to go to the bridge, shoot first, and ask questions later. As they passed by one of the hangars, Thunder made note of a ship landing, definitely not of Republic (really Imperial now) origin. It was a green freighter, likely belonging to whatever faction the Admiral had sold himself out too. Thunder looked at his companion, who returned the glance, and they both entered the hangar with their weapons drawn. As Hans walked down the ramp out of his ship, he was greeted by the ends of two blaster rifles held by two clone troopers in stainless white armor, apparently armed to the teeth. "Oh, blast," he muttered, putting his hands to the back his head before he was even told to. "Who are you?" one of them asked. "What are you doing here?" "Relax," Hans replied, "I'm working for the Admiral. Ask him; I'm sure he'd want to see me right away." Suddenly, a red blaster bolt trailed out of the ship, hitting the clone on the left. The other clone, caught off guard, lowered his weapon to help his companion out of instinct. "Thunder!" Taking advantage of the momentary chaos, Hans shoved the clone still standing. When he landed, another shot went straight into his helmet. "Who were they?" Cade asked as he walked off the ship, armed to the teeth. "No idea," Hans told him. "How did you see those guys from inside the ship?" "I didn't." "Huh. Let's move." Standing back on the bridge of the ship, Asura turned around as the doors opened for Praxon and DX-245, escorted by Cyana. Taran was waiting for them again, presumably to debrief them or to give them another assignment. "Kev Marnarth was killed," Taran started, "By a criminal known as Hans Novastar." As Taran opened his mouth, the ship began to shake and rumble. "They're here," Cyana informed him flatly "Activate their implants, kill Novastar, set the ship to self-destruct, and ready the escape pods." Taran ordered her. The escape pods? Though she tried to resist it, Asura felt again utter powerlessness as the nerve controls once again took over her actions, leading her to take a pistol offered by Cyana and immediately run for the door. She continued onward through the hallways, being met by a squad of clone troopers who decided to dig in where they were and wait for the enemies to come. "Asura, this is Hans. We know where you are. We're about to disable the nerve implants. When we do, take cover." She heard blaster shots and screams further down the hallway, but wasn't in control of herself to react to them. The clones had taken a few tables and set them up down the hallway to use as makeshift cover, and she planted herself next to a clone behind one of them, her blaster trained further down the hallway. The area ahead was now being illuminated with blue and red beams of light as shots rang out between Hans and the clones. Finally, they stopped, and Asura heard a quiet thud. "Going down in 3...2..." A grenade flew around the corner. "1...Now!" Asura ducked as the grenade went off, emitting a bright light paired with a deafening ringing. She had been lucky enough to not look directly at the grenade, and took advantage of this fact to quickly dispatch the clone next to her. Ears still ringing, she then stood up, shooting a few more clones as a red laser streaked just past the left side of her face. She turned around, and saw a clone behind her drop. Turning back, she saw Hans in the flesh- tall, pale, blonde, armed to the teeth. Immediately after, Cade also turned the corner. Hans opened his mouth to say something, but Asura still couldn't hear. As he and Cade walked closer, her hearing finally came back. "You could've told her to plug her ears, you know." Cade chided Hans. "Oh, shut up." Hans turned to Asura. "You good?" "Um.. yeah." She responded, not really knowing what to say. "Alright, let's get out of here." He and Cade quickly took off back the way they came. "WAIT!" She yelled. Hans stopped and turned around, grimacing. "What is it?" Hans sighed, as though he was expecting something like this to happen. As if in response to the question, the door behind Asura exploded. Out of the smoke, DX-245 and Praxon walked together and raised their weapons. DX was controlling Praxon. Time seemed to slow down for Asura as she quickly calculated her options. Praxon could be incapacitated, but stopping DX would likely require his restraining bolt, located on the back of his "head", and getting there wouldn't be so easy. Time sped up. Asura quickly fired a shot at Praxon's leg. It connected and he quickly fell to the floor. Next, she took off running towards DX-245, who raised his left arm and fired a single shot. Asura immediately went into a slide, feeling the heat of the shot as it flew over her head. Hans and Cade began firing at the droid from behind her, catching its attention but not doing any noticeable damage. Taking advantage of this short-lived opportunity, Asura quickly ran behind DX, grabbing hold of the restraining bolt. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement--Praxon. As she tugged at the unmoving bolt, he raised his weapon towards her. "I WON'T DO IT!" He yelled out in agony, his hands shaking violently as he resisted the droid's mental dominance. She saw his finger squeeze on the trigger, and as she shot hit her in the chest, felt the restraining bolt detach from DX-245, falling with her to a ground she never reached. ... Asura woke up on a soft bed. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was now on Hans' ship, and he was walking over to her. "Welcome back," he said. "It's been a while. Few months, actually." "What happened?" "Praxon and DX got you out of there. Taran and Cyana got away. But there's something more important than all of that, Asura." "What?" She couldn't fathom a situation more important than two Brotherhood spies still on the loose in the Empire. "I want to offer you a job." Antimatter Squadron. The real Antimatter Squadron. She couldn't believe it. "I..." "HANS!" Ranulph interjected. "THE HOLO!" He turned around and, seeing the holoprojector flash to life, quickly went towards it. "Praxon will fill you in," he finished quickly. On the holo stood a Jedi. Asura had never seen him before, but everything about him seemed to scream it. He was dressed in robes with some armor under them, and stood tall with a lightsaber on his belt. "This is Ganner," he said, "do you read me?" "Loud and clear," Ranulph hesitantly responded. "Good. Time is short and I have a lot I need to take care of. Come to these coordinates on Dantooine as soon as possible. I'll be waiting. Ganner out." The holo faded, leaving Hans staring at empty space. "Well, uh, sorry, Cade." Epilogue On a small, snowy planet in the Uncharted Regions, Dylan Antiunknown presented security footage of a shootout on the Exarch. In the video, Hans Novastar and Cade Slarwalker broke Asura Tyuki, Praxon, and DX-245 out of custody. Pausing the video, Dylan turned to face Taran and Cyana. Looking them in the eyes, he saw through their facades and glimpsed fear, which pleased him. He took a short breath, and spoke. "Taran, when I recruited you during the Cerrano case, I never would've predicted that you would become one of my top lieutenants and one of my most valuable assets in the Republic. Similarily, I could never have guessed that someone so important could fail the exact same mission not just once, but twice. Do you not know how vital the operation you jeopardized is? Because of your failures, I've had to recall all our forces back to here, where we will have to continue our plans with limited resources, praying no one finds us before we're ready. Because of your failure, Cade blasted Slarwalker is out there right now looking for answers that we can't stop him from finding. I would kill you, Taran, but death is too quick an end for you. Instead, you will life out the rest of your pathetic life on Tatooine where the day you die, the sands will shift over your grave and nothing will remember you were there. Guards!" On his command, two Weequay pirates quickly subdued Taran and dragged him away. "THIS ISN'T THE END!" Taran screamed. Dylan merely chuckled as he was left with Cyana. "As for you," Dylan commanded, "You will take his place as Admiral. Admiral Ragnan heroically died in a Jedi terrorist attack buying you time to get to the last escape pod." "And your orders, sir?" "Bring me Lospeg." THE END. Antimatter Squadron will return in RESURGENCE. Category:Legends of the Force